Maine Musings: Mostly Books

VIRGINIA BOOTLEGGERS

Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls

Set in rural Virginia during Prohibition, Jeannette Walls’ new novel, Hang the Moon, is a rollicking ride with a family of whiskey bootleggers.  The Duke, Sallie Kincaid’s father and kingpin of the local economy, is a big man both in size and personality.  He receives adoration but offers little in return.  With multiple wives and children from various relationships, he is a force to be obeyed.  In his motherless daughter Sallie, he inspires hero worship and a zeal to be like him.  

At 18, Sallie, the focal point of the novel, is called back home after having been sent away some years before.  She is determined to win the Duke’s admiration, or at least, his respect.  Learning to drive, she convinces him to hire her as his bagman.  She collects rents from the tenants, makes deliveries, and inevitably gets caught up in the long-running feud between Kincaid’s men and those of the Bond family. 

It’s a life of hard work, violence, and skirting the law.  Sallie is fierce and independent and while coming into her own after the Duke’s death, has seen only what she wanted to see about the relationships between her aunts, cousins, and siblings.  Her Kincaid family history is a complex web of extramarital affairs, deaths, and failed marriages.  

Walls cites an impressive number of sources in her afterword and details which characters are modeled after real people. Highly recommended–it’s hard to put down once you start! (~JWFarrington)

TAKEOFF ON LITTLE WOMEN

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Who are we in our 20’s and how do we evolve and grow as we progress toward middle age?  Ann Napolitano’s Hello Beautiful is a wonderfully enveloping novel about four sisters and the two men who impact their lives.  The women: ambitious organized Julia; Sylvie, earnest reader and librarian in the making; and the twins, Cecelia artistic and free-spirited; and Emeline, nurturer and caregiver; are entwined in a close-knit Catholic family in Chicago.  Julia meets William Waters in college.  Unloved, overlooked by his parents, and unsure of himself, he is Julia’s opposite in so many ways.  

When they marry, William acquires an instant family which he finds both overwhelming and mostly delightful.  Julia is a planner who has her life mapped out; William struggles on her suggested path but is not as focused or driven as she.  He gets his kicks from basketball and mentoring injured players.

Charlie, the girls’ father, is an alcoholic dreamer and seemingly ineffectual, but he sees them all more clearly than they realize.  His early death leaves a big hole, and they reflect fondly on his always cheery greeting of “Hello, Beautiful.”  

There is a rupture when one sister leaves town and, over the decades as they age, their relationships shift as new people come into the mix.  The tightness of the sisterly bonds and a subplot about absentee fathers make for an emotion-laden experience. 

I found this novel so absorbing, I read it very quickly, completely caught up in the unfolding story.  Highly recommended. (~JWFarrington)

VIEWING NOTES (PBS Passport)

This past week, we finished the most recent seasons of both Grantchester and Endeavour. In Season 8 of Grantchester, Will is in turmoil, Leonard is having difficulties with his halfway house and Daniel, and Geordie faces forced retirement.  There’s a lot going on, and it’s emotionally absorbing.  There will be one more season with Tom Brittney as vicar Will Davenport before he departs the series.

This season of Endeavour is the finale.  We watched the first two episodes and had saved up this last one.  It’s poignant and bittersweet as almost everyone moves on to another place or phase.  DI Thursday may be retiring, there are old murders to solve, festering scores to settle, and Miss Thursday is getting married.  Endeavour Morse must face what comes after. 

If you are a fan of any of the Colin Dexter-based series from John Thaw in Inspector Morse, to Kevin Whately as Lewis, and then Shaun Evans as the young Morse in Endeavour, I highly recommend a short documentary.  

It’s called Morse and The Last Endeavour:  A Masterpiece Mystery! Special.  It’s an affectionate look at the entire set of episodes from 1987 to the present and includes interviews with many of the actors about their characters, along with comments about what it was like to film in Oxford.  It’s a treat!  But there are spoilers so watch all of this Endeavour first.

There’s also a one-on-one interview with Shaun Evans about his evolving role as both actor and director. It too is on PBS Passport and worth watching.

Note: Header photo of lilies taken ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)